UW Physics Colloquium.
Title: First Results from the Fermilab Muon g-2 Experiment!
Speaker: David Hertzog (UW)
Date: Monday, April 12, 2021 - 4:00pm
Abstract: One of the most promising approaches for discovering physics beyond the standard model (SM) is through precision measurements of the muon magnetic moment, or g-factor of the muon. Twenty years ago, the Brookhaven experiment that measured the muon’s anomalous magnetic moment aµ = (g-2)/2 completed its data collection campaign. When the final analyses were published a few years later, the result differed by more than 2 standard deviations (σ) from the concurrent SM prediction. Alas, this felt like an ambiguous result that had to be resolved one way or the other. The gold-standard precision required to claim a discovery in particle physics is 5 σ. A number of us formed a new collaboration to design and build an experiment capable of resolving the situation. In the intervening years, the international theory community involved in predicting aµ formed the Muon g-2 Theory Initiative, with the similar aim to reduce theoretical uncertainties. Following a recent INT Workshop, the Initiative published a comprehensive Physics Report with a consensus value for aµ. When compared to experiment, the difference swelled to 3.7 σ, an exciting yet still not definitive result. Over the past 10 years, our new experiment has been built and we are steadily acquiring data. The University of Washington and CENPA have been central to the design, construction, commissioning, running, and analysis of this experiment since Day 1. It is therefore my great pleasure and honor to represent our group and announce in this Colloquium the first results from our 2018 run.
